December 16, 2012
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Amperex (USA) 7308 White Label
The subject of today’s review is the white label Amperex (USA) 7308 dual triode. Specifically, a JAN 7308 (1966 vintage) used as the input tube in my conrad-johnson Premier 140 amplifier and a set of six USN-CEP 7308 (manufactured between 1963 and 1965) that were used in my Premier 16LS2 preamplifier.
These tubes are available at such online vendors as Upscale Audio where they retail for between $50 to $80 apiece, depending upon grade. With all due respect, I happen to disagree with Kevin Deal’s assertion that all the variants of the Amperex 7308 sound alike but ultimately, it’s how they sound to you that matters.
Amperex (USA) 7308 White Label Line-Up Amperex (USA) JAN 7308
Amperex USN-CEP 7308 Amperex USN-CEP 7308 Rear View
Large O-Ring Getter Etched "418" Code
The reader is directed to the installments on the Amperex JAN 7308 Green Label for a review of a later version of this tube and to the Tesla PCC88 review for some information on the tubes which immediately preceded these white label Amperex 7308s.
The output tubes used in the Premier 140 during this review were triple getter, black plate Tung-Sol 6550. Arguably, about as good as you can get in the 6550 family.
Listening Impressions:
- Typical Amperex smoothness and musicality from the people who introduced the 6DJ8 family of tubes.
- Transient response is not quite as sharp as the Tungsram PCC88 but the treble is still well-extended.
- Inner detail/timbre is reference level and notes decay into the noise floor.
- Images are denser than the Tungsram and the sound stage extends from behind the speaker plane to the listening seat.
- Dynamics, both micro and macro, are excellent.
- Voices are more natural sounding than the Tungsram PCC88.
- Bass is solid but not as taut as the Tungsram.
Overall, there was a synergy taking place that produced a sound that was about as good as I’ve heard from my system in its present configuration.
NB: This will most likely be the last installment centered around the Premier 16LS2 and 140 as I’ve purchased a conrad-johnson CA200 integrated amplifier and will be using it in their place. For how long remains to be seen.
Comments (3)
Thanks for reminding me. Even though I do not currently have tube gear, I can still blog about the tubes themselves. Maybe next year!
I'd be very interested in your observations and look forward to reading your posts on this subject. While gear is a frequent focus of audio reviews, items such as tubes are often neglected.
excellent and informative review of Amperex 7308 and Telefunken ecc88 tubes. My experience is in accord with your findings cheers William